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Oral evaluation of hospitalized patients
Oral evaluation of hospitalized patients
Council on Hospital D ental Service
In the past, dentists who used the hospital limited their services to surgical procedures involving the oral cavity and its associated structures. Today, the entire field of dentistry should be made availa ble to all hospitalized patients. The Council on Hospital Dental Service ini tiated a pilot study to determine the acceptance of oral evaluation of hospitalized patients by pa tients and by physicians. Mr. Patrick DeMoon, executive director, and Dr. Nicholas C. Choukas, director of the department of stomatology of the Franklin Boulevard Community Hospital, with the assistance of the Council’s secretary, set up a proj ect whereby every patient admitted to the hospital receives an oral evaluation. The oral evaluation becomes a permanent part of the hospital record. This project is consistent with the Council’s long-standing policy that the dental care rendered in the hospital is an essential part of a total health service. The council recognizes that the dental service must be well coordinated with those of the other health professions to provide a total health service for the individual patient.
The modern progressive hospital of today rec ognizes both medical and dental care for its patients. Practitioners of the healing arts recognize that oral health cannot be divorced from the gen eral health of the hospitalized patient. Total health care, then, requires the combined effort of both the medical and dental professions. An 8-month survey, from April through No vember, 1965, was conducted to gain some in sight as to the types and degrees of oral pathologic change that hospital patients may present. The survey revealed some interesting statistics and findings. About 80 per cent of all patients ad mitted to the hospital had some form of oral pathosis that required treatment. Most of these patients were not aware of their problems and did not have a family dentist. As would be ex pected, most of those patients suffered from dental caries and periodontal disease. A statistical table shows the categories of the findings. The survey brought to light, the high in cidence of oral disease in the patients admitted to the hospital. A more conclusive survey should be performed on patients in the various types of hospitals throughout the United States. This will give important data on the incidence of oral dis ease in the hospital population and will empha size the need for hospital dental service, not only as a service of the hospital but also as an essential consultative branch of the professional staff. 911
Table ■ Oral evaluation of patients admitted to hospital Prelim inary results Oral evaluation
June
Ju ly
August
September
October
3 4.5%
2 7.6%
37.1%
2 8 .8 %
36 .2 %
3 5.3%
3 5.8%
33.2%
14.1
21.2
19.1
14.7
13.5
11.8
19.1
12.7
16.1
7.8 3.1 14.1 4.7 9.4 0.0
15.5 15.0 22.1 10.6 9.7 7.1
12.8 11.3 12.1 4.3 8.2 1.6
17.8 12.1 6.1 7.6 3.6 1.0
13.5 9.9 7.2 9.0 7.7 4.6
14.8 8.3 1 1.4 7.4 0.4 0.0
9.8 8.5 6.0 6.8 0.4 0.8
13.2 10.8 . 6.4 17.2 2.0 1.0
13.6 10.8 10.5 8.6 4.8 2.2
Temporomandibular joint problems
1.6
0.0
0.0
2.0
1.4
0.0
0.4
0.0
0.6
Lesions in oral cavity Unerupted tooth Malocclusion Hyperplasia Growth on palate Cyst on neck Mucocele Root fragments to be removed
6.3 0.0 6.3 0.0 1.6 1.6 0.0 0.0
0.0 0.9 1.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4 0.0
0.0 0.8 0.0 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.Ó 0.0 0.0 0.0
1.0 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5
0.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Ó.0
0.0 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
0.6 0.5 0.4 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2
Inflam m ation o f palatal tissue due to dentures
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.4
Q.O
0.0
0.1
No problem
9.4
8.0
26.1
20.3
18.9
23 &
23.4
21.1
19.9
Miscellaneous
3.1
5.3
0.8
0.5
0.5
3.1
1.7
2.5
2.0
64
226
257
197
222
229
235
204
1,634
April
Caries Periodontal involvement (pther than gingivitis)
2 5.0%
Prophylaxis New dentures required Missing teeth Extractions required Gingivitis Denture adjustment required
Total no. of patients
M ay
November
r
Self-made Man "Americans have always been the world's most enthusiastic proponents of the self-made man. Many still believe that he is not only an American invention but a unique national product. This is, of course, a myth. The worthy type who rises from poverty and obscurity to fame and fortune is as old as history and as widespread as human society." These traditions of thought about the self-made man emerged. The first was the conservative tradition of the middle-class Prostestant ethic that stressed the values of piety, frugality, and diligence in one's worldly calling . . . success was the attainment of a respectable competence in this world and eternal salvation in the world to come. The second tradition placed major emphasis on the individual's getting ahead. Its definition of success was largely economic. The third definition of success was tied to individual fulfillment and social progress rather than to wealth or status . . . Under the impact of twentieth-century social change and the influence of contemporary sociological and psychological thought this tradition has become an increasingly important element of American thought.
John G. Cawelti, Success in the twentieth century, Chicago Today, Vol. 2, No. 3, Autumn, 1965, p. 3.
9 1 2 ■ JA D A , Vol. 72, April 1966
'
Total
Council on Hospital D ental Service
In the past, dentists who used the hospital limited their services to surgical procedures involving the oral cavity and its associated structures. Today, the entire field of dentistry should be made availa ble to all hospitalized patients. The Council on Hospital Dental Service ini tiated a pilot study to determine the acceptance of oral evaluation of hospitalized patients by pa tients and by physicians. Mr. Patrick DeMoon, executive director, and Dr. Nicholas C. Choukas, director of the department of stomatology of the Franklin Boulevard Community Hospital, with the assistance of the Council’s secretary, set up a proj ect whereby every patient admitted to the hospital receives an oral evaluation. The oral evaluation becomes a permanent part of the hospital record. This project is consistent with the Council’s long-standing policy that the dental care rendered in the hospital is an essential part of a total health service. The council recognizes that the dental service must be well coordinated with those of the other health professions to provide a total health service for the individual patient.
The modern progressive hospital of today rec ognizes both medical and dental care for its patients. Practitioners of the healing arts recognize that oral health cannot be divorced from the gen eral health of the hospitalized patient. Total health care, then, requires the combined effort of both the medical and dental professions. An 8-month survey, from April through No vember, 1965, was conducted to gain some in sight as to the types and degrees of oral pathologic change that hospital patients may present. The survey revealed some interesting statistics and findings. About 80 per cent of all patients ad mitted to the hospital had some form of oral pathosis that required treatment. Most of these patients were not aware of their problems and did not have a family dentist. As would be ex pected, most of those patients suffered from dental caries and periodontal disease. A statistical table shows the categories of the findings. The survey brought to light, the high in cidence of oral disease in the patients admitted to the hospital. A more conclusive survey should be performed on patients in the various types of hospitals throughout the United States. This will give important data on the incidence of oral dis ease in the hospital population and will empha size the need for hospital dental service, not only as a service of the hospital but also as an essential consultative branch of the professional staff. 911
Table ■ Oral evaluation of patients admitted to hospital Prelim inary results Oral evaluation
June
Ju ly
August
September
October
3 4.5%
2 7.6%
37.1%
2 8 .8 %
36 .2 %
3 5.3%
3 5.8%
33.2%
14.1
21.2
19.1
14.7
13.5
11.8
19.1
12.7
16.1
7.8 3.1 14.1 4.7 9.4 0.0
15.5 15.0 22.1 10.6 9.7 7.1
12.8 11.3 12.1 4.3 8.2 1.6
17.8 12.1 6.1 7.6 3.6 1.0
13.5 9.9 7.2 9.0 7.7 4.6
14.8 8.3 1 1.4 7.4 0.4 0.0
9.8 8.5 6.0 6.8 0.4 0.8
13.2 10.8 . 6.4 17.2 2.0 1.0
13.6 10.8 10.5 8.6 4.8 2.2
Temporomandibular joint problems
1.6
0.0
0.0
2.0
1.4
0.0
0.4
0.0
0.6
Lesions in oral cavity Unerupted tooth Malocclusion Hyperplasia Growth on palate Cyst on neck Mucocele Root fragments to be removed
6.3 0.0 6.3 0.0 1.6 1.6 0.0 0.0
0.0 0.9 1.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4 0.0
0.0 0.8 0.0 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.Ó 0.0 0.0 0.0
1.0 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5
0.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Ó.0
0.0 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
0.6 0.5 0.4 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2
Inflam m ation o f palatal tissue due to dentures
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.4
Q.O
0.0
0.1
No problem
9.4
8.0
26.1
20.3
18.9
23 &
23.4
21.1
19.9
Miscellaneous
3.1
5.3
0.8
0.5
0.5
3.1
1.7
2.5
2.0
64
226
257
197
222
229
235
204
1,634
April
Caries Periodontal involvement (pther than gingivitis)
2 5.0%
Prophylaxis New dentures required Missing teeth Extractions required Gingivitis Denture adjustment required
Total no. of patients
M ay
November
r
Self-made Man "Americans have always been the world's most enthusiastic proponents of the self-made man. Many still believe that he is not only an American invention but a unique national product. This is, of course, a myth. The worthy type who rises from poverty and obscurity to fame and fortune is as old as history and as widespread as human society." These traditions of thought about the self-made man emerged. The first was the conservative tradition of the middle-class Prostestant ethic that stressed the values of piety, frugality, and diligence in one's worldly calling . . . success was the attainment of a respectable competence in this world and eternal salvation in the world to come. The second tradition placed major emphasis on the individual's getting ahead. Its definition of success was largely economic. The third definition of success was tied to individual fulfillment and social progress rather than to wealth or status . . . Under the impact of twentieth-century social change and the influence of contemporary sociological and psychological thought this tradition has become an increasingly important element of American thought.
John G. Cawelti, Success in the twentieth century, Chicago Today, Vol. 2, No. 3, Autumn, 1965, p. 3.
9 1 2 ■ JA D A , Vol. 72, April 1966
'
Total